West London's Buried Rivers Brought Back to the Surface

Mural on Bollo Lane tracks course of Bollo Brook and Stamford Brook

James Daw's by the side of a new development in Acton. Picture: Prime Phenix

May 3, 2026

Two of West London’s long-forgotten rivers have reappeared—this time not through excavation, but across a 12-metre mural now installed on the side of a new development in Acton. The artwork, created by London illustrator James Daw, stretches across the upper four floors of Prime Phenix’s Stirling Gardens building on Bollo Lane and traces the hidden courses of Bollo Brook and Stamford Brook, two waterways that still run beneath the streets in Victorian culverts.

Bollo Brook rises near Ealing Common, runs east and south along what is now Bollo Lane… and historically fed the ornamental lakes at Chiswick House before draining into the Thames, while Stamford Brook flows south to meet the Thames near Hammersmith. Neither appears on modern maps, and both are largely unknown even to long-term residents.

Prime Phenix commissioned the mural specifically to root the new building in the history of its location. The company said it wanted the most visible wall to carry artwork “rooted in the specific history of Bollo Lane,” identifying the two buried rivers as the ideal subject. Daw, a Camberwell graduate who has twice exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, walked Acton to sketch three local landmarks—Acton Town Station, Chiswick House and St Mary’s Church—before weaving them into the final composition.

The mural is permanent, free to view and visible from street level at any time. The developer says, “there is no fenced-off opening event; the work was installed quietly to become part of the street.” It is thought to be the first permanent public artwork in West London dedicated specifically to Bollo Brook and Stamford Brook.

Interest in London’s buried rivers has grown in recent years, with books, walking tours and community groups exploring the capital’s lost waterways. The Stirling Gardens mural adds a new West London landmark to that movement, reconnecting Acton residents with a piece of local geography that has been hidden for more than a century.

Prime Phenix, founded in 2016, has delivered more than 100 homes across six developments and is continuing to expand its West London portfolio. Daw, meanwhile, has collaborated with international brands and been shortlisted for illustration prizes in Lisbon, Italy and Kyiv.